In vitro culture of mantle tissue of the abalone Haliotis varia Linnaeus.

The study is aimed at developing a technology for the production of in vitro pearl through tissue culture of mantle of the abalone, Haliotis varia Linnaeus, as the production of free and spherical pearls in vivo is rather difficult in abalones. In the basic study, the cell yield was intensified from the explant after 24h incubation. Among the cells liberated, the granulocytes were dominant over hyalinocytes. The size of granulocytes ranged from 3 to 16 microm and of hyalinocytes from 13 to 18 microm. Fibroblast-like cells appeared in cultures after day 2. Both granulocytes and hyalinocytes developed pseudopodial-like extensions in all directions and formed organic matrix. Granulocytes contained granules in the cytoplasm. Specific granules were responsible for nucleation of crystals. Some crystals exhibited green colour resembling mother of pearl of abalone. scanning electron microscope (SEM) study revealed the oolitic amorphous state and rhombohedral state of crystals. Its analysis through energy dispersive X-ray microanalyzer (EDS) indicated the presence of calcium. The rhombohedral crystals under polarized light showed its high birefringence (0.18) and uniaxial optically negative calcite nature with high content of calcium. A mean survival of cells was found to be 102 days in T 25 flasks and 32 days in petri dishes. Growth of cells was studied. Thirty percent of cultures were found to have contaminated during the study. The study provides basic knowledge in the development of a technology for in vitro pearl production.